Jul 27, 2009

Given the dire financial straits in which the city of Toledo finds itself, I would not have been irritated if the city elected to repave my street next year, or even 2011. However, if my choices are: a) wait until next year; or b) have a road crew do a half-arsed job, I prefer to wait.

Pictured is a 40-foot stretch of road along my property in which the most prominent feature of this new pavement is the shiny streak of sticky tar. The open, oozing adhesive material is over a foot wide in some spots, and anyone who fails to pay attention will get a sole full of the goo.

It would have taken a worker perhaps ten minutes to hand-shovel a little gravel on this stretch of pavement, but obviously the word "quality" is relative, especially to government workers. Still, one would think that a crew whose responsibilities include two tasks (laying down goo and spreading gravel, a type of cheap pavement known as "stone and pitch") could manage a reasonable facsimile of "quality" work, especially since they have machines that do most of the labor for them.

So now I am faced with a dilemma: should I spread some gravel myself from the piles of loose stone that abound, or should I complain to the city and take my chances that someone will actually give a shit about quality workmanship? Your comments would be appreciated as I ponder my options.

4 comments:

Forward the picture and your complaint to your local council rep. Tom Waniewski has been very good about responding to my emails. It's been impressive. Your mileage may vary with other council members, I've never dealt with them.

I'd fix it myself if I was able to do so. If I sent you pictures of some of the streets around here....wow! Many potholes are all the way through and are 6-7 inches deep.

We also had a huge pavement project on S. Byrne where the contractor never did put the final coat on. Millions and millions of dollars spent and the roads already breaking up because they didn't do the cheapest and easiest part. Spraying the hot patch on the top so that water couldn't get underneath at the joints and freeze and break it up.

They just don't get it. And I don't foresee them suddenly grasping these simple processes.